Author: Kevin Jarrett

Just One Part of the Body of Christ, the Church

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Sunday I had the honor of baptizing my two sons, Ethan and Eli. I spoke briefly during the baptism about how proud Kari and I were to be able to baptize our children into the church. I spoke of how I was aware that we as parents didn’t get to this point with our children completely by ourselves. We relied on the church family both at Southern Hills Christian Church and the greater church to help guide, teach,  and lead our boys to a personal relationship with Christ. The boys have had the fortune of growing up in the church, spending many summers at Woodland Christian Camp, going on several mission trips to Nicaragua, and spending years at Southern Hills in our All Stars, 456, and Fusion programs. All along the way, they have had caring adults pouring into them.  Ethan has experienced immeasurable growth during his time with his current small group. His leader Mike Jacquinot has connected with him in ways I never could, even as his father. I didn’t know when I was …

Our Family on Mission in Nicaragua and at Home

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Why do people who go on short-term mission trips love them so much? Is it the exotic destination?  Is it the time away from their own life?  Is it time spent in a different, fascinating culture? Some would think so and they would be right to some extent. These are really enjoyable aspects of traveling. After going on and leading numerous trips over the past several years I believe the reason most people enjoy mission trips (and keep going back) is because they put their faith into action and see it work. On mission trips, we live out our Christianity in a way that resembles how Christian community in the first century church was modeled. We spend every moment of a week living in community, doing projects together, praying together, eating together, sharing our resources, encouraging one another, sharing the word of God with non-believers, and doing extreme acts of generosity for people we don’t know. I’ve never had a mission trip ruined by adversity.  We’ve had flat tires, wrecked vehicles, torrential downpours, illnesses, hospital trips, emergency room trips, …

My Summer in Nicaragua

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I am super excited to be back with my church family and would like to share with you about my time in Nicaragua this summer.  In June, we took 40 people to Los Cedros, Nicaragua for a week long mission trip.  This has been our largest group to date!  When the group left, my two boys and I stayed for an additional 5.5 weeks.  Kari, my wife, came back with the big group to keep our foster kids and then rejoined us after 4 weeks. We had an amazing time of ministry beginning with the group trip and then assisting the Mustard Seed Mission with several other church trips.  The SoHills team helped the locals build a pavilion at one of the schools that will enable the missionaries, Michael and Lisa Perkins, to have more influence in the children’s lives.  This new facility will also allow parents and community leaders to have meetings in a neutral area as well as serve as a base of operations for future trips.   Later in the summer, we helped another church build a home for a mother in need. These building projects are beneficial in …